Newly Accrediated Aces

[JACK COOK]

Frank's response on an earlier post got me to wondering about these new aces. Is the Fighter Aces Victory Credits Board an official board recognised by the AF or just their own doing?
Are these newly accrediated aces really aces? some of the names that come to mind are Jack Walker-82FG, AT House-49FG, Ivan Hasek-354FG, Richard Ausbury-354FG or Marion Owens 370FG.

[Frank Olynyk]

Jack,
The American Fighter Aces Association Victory Credit Board is only official for AFAA purposes. It is not associated with the USAF, and if it has any impact on USAF deliberations on claims, it appears to be more negative than anything.

AT House is accepted by the USAF as an ace, but I happen to disagree with their evidence. I have four victories for him, with an additional apparently indecisive, if not non-, engagement. However, in 1946 he received a Silver Star while serving in China with the 14th Air Force, covering his service in 1943 with 49th FG in 5th AF in New Guinea. Since I cannot understand how 14th AF can confirm a claim made 3 years earlier, in a different Air Force/Theater, I have left his total at 4. But the USAF goes by their existing documentation, which is their basic criteria: some form of official confirmation at the time -- they do not consider reference in a squadron history, or mission report to be official enough.

Dick Asbury is one of the 354th FG aces who suffers from the fact that several 19th TAC VCB reports are missing from the holdings at Maxwell (I am told that they had two sets, and got rid of one without comparing the two sets carefully -- many years ago). Documentation in the National Archives at College Park shows how many claims were credited on each of the VCB reports however, and this is exactly the number of claims from their mission reports that do not appear in the existing VCB reports.


Frank.